Why Are So Many People Experiencing Burnout Today?

One out of four employees report having Burnout symptomsand one out of seven employees actually suffer from Burnout.

Burnout has become increasingly common in recent years. Amajor reason lies in the mismatch between how our brains evolved and the demands of contemporary life.

Our brains developed thousands of years ago to help ussurvive in environments filled with immediate, physicaldangers such as wild animals or food shortages. In thosesituations, the brain’s stress response was vital: it triggered a surge of hormones like cortisol, preparing us for quick action. But nowadays, we are not very often being chased bij a saber-toothed tiger. Although our surroundings have changeddramatically, this ancient stress system remains largely thesame.

Today, we rarely face the “life or death threats” of ourancestors. Instead, we’re bombarded by constant deadlines, social expectations, digital notifications, and the pressure toalways be “on.” Yet, our brains still react to these modern stressors as if they were urgent threats. As a result, the stress response is activated far more often and for much longerperiods than it was ever designed to handle.

Chronic stress takes a toll on key areas of the brain. The hippocampus, which helps with memory and emotionalregulation, can become overloaded and even shrink, leading toforgetfulness and difficulty managing stress. The amygdala, responsible for processing fear and anxiety, becomes more sensitive, making us feel more anxious or threatened byeveryday situations. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex, thepart of the brain involved in planning, decision-making, andself-control, can become less effective, making it harder tocope with stress.

Because our brains haven’t evolved to deal with the relentless, low-level stress of modern life, more and more people are burning out. Addressing this problem isn’t just about building individual resilience; it also requires creating environments, at work and at home, that allow our brains the downtime andrecovery they need to stay healthy.

That is why we need tob e aware that we should do more activities t orecover from stress. Like reading a book, taking a bath, do breathwork, meditate etc..